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Monthly Budget Review

February 7, 2012

Report

The federal government accumulated a budget deficit of $349 billion in the first four months of fiscal year 2012, CBO estimates, $70 billion less than the shortfall recorded for the same period last year.

Summary

Based on the Monthly Treasury Statement for December and the Daily Treasury Statements for January

The federal government accumulated a budget deficit of $349 billion in the first four months of fiscal year 2012, CBO estimates, $70 billion less than the shortfall recorded for the same period last year. Without shifts in the timing of certain payments, however, the deficit would
have been only $39 billion smaller than the shortfall for the same period last year. If lawmakers enact no further legislation affecting spending or revenues, the federal government will end fiscal year 2012 with a deficit of nearly $1.1 trillion, CBO estimates, compared with
$1.3 trillion in 2011. However, enactment of proposals such as pending legislation to extend the payroll tax cut could have a significant impact on the deficit for 2012. (For more details about CBO’s most recent budget projections, see The Budget and Economic Outlook: Fiscal Years 2012 to 2022.)